This is The World According to Buchs - Keepin’ it moving since 2003!

It was a quiet week in the poker world. I’ve been busy with actual work, so my time at the virtual tables has been limited. I had planned on getting a tournament in over last weekend, but (1) was hung over from Friday night’s dinner outing at Heaven City, and (2) had to prepare for a cheese & wine cocktail party we were having on Saturday night.

However, I did manage to find a little time last night to play online. The site that I’ve been playing through offers many different types of play. There’s straight money play at different limits - all the way from a dime up to no-limit. There’s multi-table tournament play, with entries ranging from $3 up to $100. And, what I found last night, single-table tournament play.

I’m a logical person, so I took a look at the numbers. In a multi-table tournament, you’re playing anywhere from 100 to 400 people. Sure, the entry is cheap, but the payout isn’t outstanding - and it’s typically a free seat at another level of play. Not to mention that it takes a long time to beat out 400 people. In contrast, single-table tournament play was a little bit pricier, but not much. Entries ranged from $5 (+ $1 for the house) to $100 (+ $5). These tables play the same rules as the multi-table games, but you’re only playing against 9 other players, and the payouts are a little more favorable - 50% of the pot to the winner, 30% to 2nd, and 20% to 3rd. Finally, these games run quite a bit shorter than the big ones.

So, I sat my virtual-ass down at a table, plunked down my entry fee, and waited for the table to fill up - which took about 45 seconds.

I’ve decided that I need to be the Zen Master of poker. Patience is a virtue, grasshopper. Don’t worry about the guy who’s racking up chips next to you, just wait for your opportunity, then strike like the cobra. And, I’m happy to say, it worked. It took about an hour, but I was able to get myself into the “final 3″, which meant I was in the money.

The 3 final players had similar stacks - anywhere from $3000 to $4000. I was in the middle. By this point in the game, the blinds were getting larger - starting at $300/$600 and moving up every few hands. I had a few opportunities to steal the blinds away from the other players by betting hard after they had checked or called, which worked to my advantage. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I was getting good cards, too. One of the other guys made what I thought was a desperation move to go all-in, and I called him before the flop with a Q-K in my hand. He had A-K, but the flop showed me another Queen, which was enough to win. That put me way up on the other guy, and I ground him out for a while, then beat him with two pair.

Final tally, $100.00 American in my pocket. After the game was over, I decided to put an end to my poker playing for a while, and requested a “cash out” from the system. There were 2 options to have funds wired to my bank account, which I wasn’t comfortable with. The third option was to have them send a physical check to me, which should be here within 2 weeks.